Arts & Events

Press Release: Barbara Dane: A Life, a Book, a Documentary and a Berkeley Book Party!

Gar Smith
Monday October 03, 2022 - 04:47:00 PM

The Free Speech Movement Archives (FSM-A) recently sent out a notice announcing a string of upcoming events celebrating famed singer/activist Barbara Dane." This is an edited version of the press release.

In October 1964, Barbara Dane, stood in Sproul Plaza atop a police car containing an arrested activist named Jack Weinberg. Dane sang some rousing, FSM-customized versions of classic spirituals like Go Tell It On The Mountain and then lowered her guitar to address the crowd of student protesters: “It was a long time there in the early fifties—especially when you couldn’t seem to get a rise out of anybody about anything, 'cause everybody thought they had to play it safe, play it cool, don’t take part, and I want to say that I, as a waiter and watcher and prodder and hoping that things would get moving again, I want to thank you all for being here. It’s marvelous.” Listen! to the KPFA recording.

And here's the good news: Barbara Dane has conspired with Berkeley's prestigious Heyday Books to release a new book, "This Bell Still Rings: My Life of Defiance and Song"—a jaw-dropping autobiography like no other. 

Dane was not just a renowned folk, blues, and jazz singer who performed with some of the twentieth century’s most celebrated musicians—from Louis Armstrong to Bob Dylan—she was also a proud progressive who tirelessly championed the causes of racial equality and economic justice in America, and traveled the world to sing out against war and tyranny. 

Dane was also an organizer, a record label founder, and a woman who has charted her own creative and political path for more than ninety years. She has led an epic, trailblazing life in music and activism, and This Bell Still Rings tells her story in her own adventurous voice. 

The memoir charts Dane's trajectory from singing in union halls and at factory gates in World War II–era Detroit, to her rise as a respected blues and jazz singer, to her prominence as a folk musician who frequently performed at civil rights and peace demonstrations across the US and abroad—from post-revolutionary Cuba to wartime Vietnam. This Bell Still Rings offers a wealth of inspiration for artists, activists, and anyone seeking a life defined by courage and integrity. 

Coming Soon: Barbara Dane Onscreen 

Also in the works, the local Arhoolie Foundation is raising donations to help produce a documentary dedicated to the life, music, and activism of Barbara Dane. "The Nine Lives of Barbara Dane" (working title) has engaged the talent of two local filmmakers—Maureen Gosling ("Burden of Dreams," "This Ain't No Mouse Music") and Jed Riffe ("Ishi, the Last of the Yahi," "The Long Shadow"). The film's producer, Nina Menendez ("Tropicola"), is also Dane's daughter. The feature-length documentary illuminates the true story of a trailblazing woman and an unsung hero of American music—a blues, jazz, and folk-singer, a social activist, wife, mother of three, world traveler, feminist, record producer, maverick and general troublemaker. Donations will allow filmmakers to secure music rights and finish editing, sound mixing, and color correction. 

A fiercely independent woman, born in the 1920s, Dane took the power of her voice from the bright lights of jazz and blues celebrity to the tumultuous streets of 1960s America, paving her own way with her art, in the service of social justice, civil rights and peace. 

Still going strong in her early 90s, Dane recounts how she turned setbacks into opportunities and became an inspiration for generations of musicians and activists. The documentary includes interviews with a range of other musicians including The Chambers Brothers, Pablo Menéndez, and Bonnie Raitt, along with archival footage and music featuring Louis Armstrong, Pete Seeger, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Earl "Fatha" Hines. Here's an advanced peek. 

 

October 17: A Barbara Dane Book Launch Party in Berkeley 

On Monday, October 17, KPFA welcomes Barbara Dane to a book party at Freight and Salvage (2020 Addison Street) to celebrate the release of her autobiography, "This Bell Still Rings: My Life of Defiance and Song." The event will be hosted by KPFA's redoubtable Kris Welch. Tickets are a mere $20 and can be ordered online (as long as they last) by clicking here